When will it end? That’s the question I found myself asking after the first hour. With all the hype surrounding this movie, I went in with high hopes for the cast and the story. An Italian empire murder-for-hire scandal? The scandal itself was the perfect plot of any great film.
The film could have shaved off a full hour and would have been more enjoyable. Instead, I was left wondering when the meat of the story was going to kick in. While the film is mostly historically accurate in its depiction of the sobering tale of the greed within the Gucci family, additional details were missing (like other family members) and elements that could have been skipped altogether.
Lady Gaga (Patrizia Reggiani) continues to shine in the roles she takes on. There is no doubt that she throws herself into a role 110%. She managed to capture the beauty and greed that fueled Reggiani. From the moment the word Gucci was mentioned in front of her, the drive was written all over her face.
The same could be said about Jared Leto. Unfortunately, his 110% came off as a hot mess in desperate need of some direction for his interpretation of Paolo Gucci. It was so over the top I thought he was goofing around the whole movie. While I’m usually a huge Adam Driver fan, I couldn’t help but feel he wasn’t the best choice to play Maurizio Gucci. At one point in the film, he loses his accent. Despite Maurizio moving to America, I doubt he completely lost his Italian accent.
The chemistry between Al Pachino, who plays Aldo Gucci, and Lady Gaga was terrific. Pachino understands the assignment when it comes to a powerful head of a family running a lucrative empire.
House of Gucci heavily follows Patrizia, dubbed the Black Widow in Italy, and her drive to become a key player in the Gucci family empire. How she stalked Maurizio until he fell in love with her and how she solidified her place in his life. It follows her to the moment she appears in court for the murder of her ex-husband. I would even consider the Gucci family as secondary, and this is truly a story about Patrizia.
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Every decision Patrizia made was to better herself in the guise of the Gucci family. Everything in extravagance. Patrizia Reggiani was released from prison after serving 18 years of her 26-year sentence in 2016. She was offered a chance to leave in 2011 with a work-release program that she refused to take. Her first day of freedom included a shopping spree with a bird on her shoulder. If that doesn’t showcase her true character, I’m not sure what would.
The movie does paint a sad story about a family that let greed get the best of them until everything their family built was no longer in the family’s hands. It’s equally sad that Maurizio and Patrizia’s two daughters (only one was shown in the film) have to relive such a tragic story on the screen.
While there is plenty in House of Gucci that is good, it doesn’t hold your attention as a good crime story should. If you strip away some of the life events that hope all over the pace and focus on the scandals that lead up to the Gucci family’s downfall, you would have a hit.
